Was just in Nashville the weekend after New Years. We stayed at the Hilton Garden Inn Vanderbilt. It is about a mile from downtown(broadway) but they run a shuttle bus so we took advantage of that. The shuttle runs until 10pm weekdays and midnight Fri/Sat.
This Hilton is within walking distance of Music Row and a few pretty cool bars. The Red Door Saloon, Soulshine Pizza Factory, Winners / Losers, Rebar, Broadway Brewhouse and Mojo Grill, Tavern Nashville (a little more upscale restaurant - burger was awesome).
Downtown, you have to make stops at Legends Corner Bar and Tootsie's Orchid Lounge. Legendary bars and the music starts at around 11am to noon. Tootsie's has 3 levels with bands on all 3. Jack's BBQ is decent, but in can get crowded and have a decent wait in line. Rippy's is pretty good. My wife and I loved the pulled pork sandwich. Honkytonk Central a little further down is another cool place, but there smaller places in between. There was not a cover charge for any place we went into. Musicians play for tips. 2nd Ave was OK, it has the Wildhorse Saloon, Hard Rock, Coyote Ugly, BB King's. One place we didn't make it to was Printers Alley.